St. Aidan's Day Nursery

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 09/06/2004 Inspector Name Diane Roberts

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Out of School Day Care, Full Day Care Setting Name St. Aidan's Day Nursery Setting Address Lismore Place Carlisle Cumbria CA1 1LY

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name The Committee of St. Aidan's Day Nursery Trustees

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name St. Aidan's Day Nursery Trustees Address Lismore Place Carlisle Cumbria CA1 1LY

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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ABOUT THE INSPECTION

The purpose of this inspection is to assure government, parents and the public of the quality and standard of day care in accordance with the National Standards for Under Eights Day Care and Childminding; and that the nursery education for funded three and four year old children is of an acceptable quality. Inspection of nursery education also identifies strengths and weaknesses so that providers can improve the quality of educational provision and help children to achieve the early learning goals (elgs) by the end of the Foundation Stage. This inspection report must be made available to all parents. If the setting has been inspected previously, an action plan will have been drawn up to tackle issues identified. This inspection, therefore, must also assess what progress has been made in the implementation of this plan.

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Information about the setting

St. Aidan's Day Nursery opened in 1990. It is provided by St. Aidan's Day Nursery Trustees. It operates from a self-contained single storey unit adjoining St. Aidan's County High School in Carlisle. St Aidan's Day Nursery serves the surrounding area. There are currently 90 children from 10 months to 4 years on roll. This includes 16 funded 3 year olds and 16 funded 4 year olds. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently no children attending with special needs or who speak English as an additional language. The group opens five days a week all year round. Sessions are from 08:00 until 18:00. St. Aidan's Day Nursery has 22 staff working a variety of hours with the children. All the staff apart from one have early years qualifications to NVQ level 3. One member of staff is currently working towards a recognised early years qualification. The setting receives support from the Early Years Partnership.

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How good is the Day Care?

St Aidan's Day Nursery provides good care for children. There is a very good quota of qualified and experienced staff. The setting is well managed and staff work well together demonstrating a strong commitment to team working. The setting is keenly organised which enables the staff to work closely with the children and offer commendable care and support. Staff have a secure knowledge and understanding of their role within the setting. A very good operational plan is in place that makes sure children consistently receive a quality service. Staff's awareness of children's constantly developing abilities helps to ensure appropriate safety measures are conscientiously applied at all times. Sensitive and appropriate interactions between staff and children promote children's self esteem. Staff have a good understanding with regard to their responsibilities in child protection matters. Although positive attitudes are generally encouraged and

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How good is the Day Care?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 developed throughout the setting the job application form requests information that could lead to discrimination. Childcare staff are fully informed about any child with special dietary requirements. However catering staff do not have access to written information about children's individual special dietary needs. Staff have a secure knowledge and understanding of the early learning goals and plan in advance programmes of activities that cover all areas of development. The setting has an extensive range of toys and equipment for children, but due to restrictions imposed on the use of one of the rooms available to the pre-school children, the opportunity for children to self select play materials is limited at times.

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How good is the Day Care?

Effective systems are in place for keeping parents informed about the setting and future events. Parents are encouraged to contribute to the setting's activities.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

At the last inspection the setting agreed to improve safety arrangements for children and adults in a number of ways. Risk assessments are now in place ensuring that the outdoor areas and play equipment are continually assessed with regard to their use. Children are further protected by ensuring that contact details are included in the child protection statement in the event of allegations being made against staff. Details about how bullying is dealt with is now included in the behaviour management statement. Children's welfare and well-being is ensured by an effective key person system. The setting also agreed to develop a more homely environment for children under the age of two years by providing domestic style furniture. Two low chairs are now available in the Baby room, enhancing children's comfort.

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What is being done well?

• Children are highly valued and respected. They benefit from a sensitive, consistent approach to their behaviour. They are treated with kindness and affection and in turn they treat one another in the same way. The language used by staff with each other and with the children both verbal and written demonstrates very well how they respect and value each other. Children are encouraged to try new activities and develop new skills in a safe and supportive environment. Children feel secure and confident with the adults looking after them. • Relevant information is sought about cultures, home languages, play activities and children's specific needs to ensure that each child is made to feel valued and free from discrimination. Staff work hard to promote each child's self esteem. • Parental partnerships are good. Staff communicate closely with parents to foster good relationships and to build up a greater understanding of children's

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What is being done well?

needs. Parents are welcomed into the setting. Parental questionnaires show a high level of satisfaction with the service. • The setting is very well managed. Children's welfare, care and learning is promoted through the efficient and safekeeping of records, policies and

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What is being done well?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 procedures. • Children's health and safety is promoted well through high standards of hygiene and comprehensive risk assessments. Staff have a secure knowledge of the setting's policies and a commitment to adhering to their agreed procedures. Staff demonstrate a keen commitment to offering a very good service to children and parents. • Throughout the setting staff give admirable attention to meeting children's individual needs and to exchanging information with their parents. Individual attention for each child attending the setting is prioritised and is ensured by a most effective key person system.

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What needs to be improved?

• the freedom of choice of activity and the opportunities for self selection of play materials in the "Wet room" • the availability of written information to catering staff of a child's individual special dietary needs • the staff recruitment material with regard to people being valued and free from discrimination

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CONDITIONS OF REGISTRATION

All registered persons must comply with all conditions of registration included on his/her certificate of registration. As a result of this inspection conditions of registration have been imposed / varied / removed and a new certificate of registration will be issued.

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by the time of the next inspection

Std Recommendation 5 review use of “wet room” to ensure that children’s choice of activity and play materials are not limited 8 develop and implement a procedure to ensure that all staff preparing food for children have access to written information with regard to children’s individual dietary needs 9 review job application forms to ensure that information asked for will not

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by the time of the next inspection

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 lead to discrimination

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by the time of the next inspection

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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How effective is the nursery education?

St Aidan's Day Nursery provides good quality education overall which enables children to make generally good progress towards the early learning goals. Provision for their physical development, communication language and literacy, knowledge and understanding of the world and creative development is particularly well planned and they make very good progress in these areas. The quality of teaching is generally good. Staff are familiar with the stepping stones and the early learning goals. The effectiveness of the curriculum planning is generally good. Staff are good role models who have high expectations of children, as a result children are well behaved, polite and considerate. Attention is given to planning a balance of adult and child led activities, however there are limited opportunities for children to 'self select' resources during free play and some focussed activities. In general staff provide interesting and challenging activities and

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How effective is the nursery education?

keep assessment records which are pertinent to the development of three and four year olds. They display enthusiasm in relation to the teaching of children. Leadership and management is generally good. Staff work well as a team supported by an enthusiastic manager and management team. There is an effective induction, appraisal and training programme in place. Continuous support is given to staff in relation to the planning of activities and this is generally effective. A system for reviewing the quality of the provision ensures a positive direction towards the care and education of the children. Partnership with parents is very good. Parents are provided with detailed information about the setting and the early learning goals. There are strong links between home and the setting which contribute to children's learning.

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What is being done well?

• Staff are good role models who set positive examples for children. Children respond well to the staffs' calm and polite approach, they themselves learn to be polite and considerate to others. • Children benefit from effective teaching to help them form and recognise letters. Many children are very good writers, they write simple words with confidence and are encouraged to write more complex words in their news books. • Children learn how things work, they are enthusiastic when examining the works of the digital camera and the water wheel. They have very good computer skills. They learn from a wide variety of interesting and challenging computer programmes and are very good when negotiating the mouse. • Children's physical development is promoted very well. They enjoy a stimulating range of indoor and outdoor play equipment. They move

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What is being done well?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 confidently when using the indoor climbing frame and laugh as they run energetically around the outdoor play area. • Children access an abundance of creative activity, craft experiences and imaginative play opportunities. They enjoy rich opportunities to explore colour and texture when painting and moulding with clay. They enjoy a wide variety of sound, they make and play a wide variety of musical instruments. Children develop great imaginative skills during role play.

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What needs to be improved?

• the opportunity for children to self select activities and resources • the opportunity for children to develop mathematical ideas when problem solving,

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What has improved since the last inspection?

Generally good progress has been made since the last inspection. Through staff training and continuous management support a system of assessing what children do and understand has been implemented. This system is further enhanced by a sound observation process and a regular review period. Staff carry out initial assessments of pre school children to work from as a base. This encompasses all six areas of learning and in particular that of communication, language and literacy, as agreed during the last inspection. As a result children's progress is monitored as they move along the stepping stones towards the early learning goals. Through a more effective programme of assessment children are now making very good progress in relation to communication, language and literacy.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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PERSONAL, SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children are interested and motivated to learn, they learn to concentrate and maintain attention. They listen attentively in a group and concentrate when working independently, for example writing in their news books. There are limited opportunities for children to select their own resources and equipment. Children form firm relationships with adults and peers and behave very well within the setting. They learn well about people who live and work within their local community.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good Children interact and negotiate very well. They pay particular attention during story time and enjoy following the sequence of the story 'Under The Bed'. Children are very confident writers, they write simple and more complex words. Children express their feeling very well, they talk about feeling happy and sad. Children display excellent skills when handling books and follow text from left to right. They explore a wide range of texts.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children count confidently to 10 and beyond. They sequence number when using the tracker cards. Children use addition and subtraction well when calculating how many cups are required during snack time. They link number to events for example dates of birthdays. Children are confident when comparing shape and size during the shoe pairing activity. There are some missed opportunities to develop children's mathematical thinking when problem solving.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good Children learn about living things, they plant flowers and watch them grow. Children take delight in feeding the goldfish. They learn how things work and explore the workings of the digital camera. Children display very good skills when working the computer and using the mouse. Children talk with confidence about the present and past events, they have a sound knowledge of their local community and enjoy learning about other cultures. They learn how to eat Chinese food using chop sticks.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children move with great confidence and very good control over their bodies. They enjoy outdoor play and move around the outdoor play area with great energy. They are aware of safety and space. Children learn about healthy eating, they enjoy fresh fruit at snack time and learn how to keep safe in the sun. They learn all about germs and the importance of hand washing. Children handle tools very well, they use hand and eye co-ordination when using scissors to cut circles.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children enjoy rich opportunities to explore colour and texture, they learn about colour and shading and make models with clay. They fluently describe the texture of the play dough. Children learn well about sound, they thoroughly enjoy playing the musical instruments, some of which they make themselves. Children develop great imaginations when they take the role of the fire fighter, travel agent and the hairdresser.

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Children's spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development is fostered

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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OUTCOME OF THE INSPECTION

The provision is acceptable and is of good quality overall. Children are making generally good progress towards the early learning goals. The next inspection will take place in three to four years time.

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WHAT THE SETTING NEEDS TO DO NEXT: THE KEY ISSUES

• increase opportunities for children to self select activities and resources • plan opportunities for children to further develop mathematical ideas when problem solving.

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WHAT THE SETTING NEEDS TO DO NEXT: THE KEY ISSUES

The provider must draw up an action plan within 40 working days of receipt of this report showing how the key issues detailed above will be addressed. The action plan must be made available to all parents and to the Local Authority if required. An evaluation of the action taken will form part of the next inspection of funded nursery education.

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WHAT THE SETTING NEEDS TO DO NEXT: THE KEY ISSUES

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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STANDARD 1 - SUITABLE PERSON

Adults providing day care, looking after children or having unsupervised access to them are suitable to do so.

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STANDARD 2 - ORGANISATION

The registered person meets required adult: child ratios, ensures that training and qualifications requirements are met and organises space and resources to meet the children's needs effectively.

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STANDARD 3 - CARE, LEARNING AND PLAY

The registered person meets children's individual needs and promotes their welfare. They plan and provide activities and play opportunities to develop children's emotional, physical, social and intellectual capabilities.

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STANDARD 4 - PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

The premises are safe, secure and suitable for their purpose. They provide adequate space in an appropriate location, are welcoming to children and offer access to the necessary facilities for a range of activities which promote their development.

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STANDARD 5 - EQUIPMENT

Furniture, equipment and toys are provided which are appropriate for their purpose and help to create an accessible and stimulating environment. They are of suitable design and condition, well maintained and conform to safety standards.

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STANDARD 6 - SAFETY

The registered person takes positive steps to promote safety within the setting and on outings and ensures proper precautions are taken to prevent accidents.

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STANDARD 7 - HEALTH

The registered person promotes the good health of children and takes positive steps to prevent the spread of infection and appropriate measures when they are ill.

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STANDARD 8 - FOOD AND DRINK

Children are provided with regular drinks and food in adequate quantities for their needs. Food and drink is properly prepared, nutritious and complies with dietary and religious requirements.

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STANDARD 9 - EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

The registered person and staff actively promote equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice for all children.

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NEEDS AND DISABILITIES)

The registered person is aware that some children may have special needs and is

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NEEDS AND DISABILITIES)

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 proactive in ensuring that appropriate action can be taken when such a child is identified or admitted to the provision. Steps are taken to promote the welfare and development of the child within the setting in partnership with the parents and other relevant parties.

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STANDARD 11 - BEHAVIOUR

Adults caring for children in the provision are able to manage a wide range of children's behaviour in a way which promotes their welfare and development.

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STANDARD 12 - WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS AND CARERS

The registered person and staff work in partnership with parents and to meet the needs of the children, both individually and as a group. Information is shared.

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STANDARD 13 - CHILD PROTECTION

The registered person complies with local child protection procedures approved by the Area Child Protection Committee and ensures that all adults working and looking after children in the provision are able to put the procedures into practice.

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STANDARD 14 - DOCUMENTATION

Records, policies and procedures which are required for the efficient and safe management of the provision, or to promote the welfare, care and learning of children are maintained. Records about individual children are shared with the child's parent.

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STANDARD 14 - DOCUMENTATION

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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